Do you repeat the SOTW cycle?

[MEVmom]

...if you use SOTW that is. We've just finished the cycle for the first time. My older two kids (going into 4th & 5th) have completed all the levels. My youngest is going into 1st and hasn't heard any of them (besides what she overhead incidentally).

So my question is do you repeat the books like SWB says? I've heard some people say it's "too easy" for 5-8th grade. But I really like the idea of having all the kids together for history because it's a lot easier for me than teaching the older two and the younger separately.

[reign]

I don't remember SWB saying to just redo her books for those years. I thought her recommendation was to redo the history cycle.

 

It probably also depends on how you do SOTW. I think that by the time one gets to 7-8th grade they would need a bit more than just the one book.

 

For 4th and 5th I would be fine with SOTW ancients, read alouds, and some narrations, review questions or tests done however often you feel is needed.

[MEVmom]

Perhaps I misunderstood what SWB said...

[reign]

I'm not 100% though! Hopefully someone will know for sure 😀

[Flowergirl159]

SWB suggests repeating the history cycle. Kids in 5th and up use a different spine such Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. All can sit in and listen to SOTW, but olders can then read independently from a more challenging history spine. This is how I interpreted her WTM book :)

[2_girls_mommy]

The older kids move into logic stage work in the same history cycle, using the KHE, a timeline book, a Geography coloring book, and writing summaries and outlines and filing in a notebook that is organized differently than the SOTW notebooks.  Read the logic stage history of WTM for how tos.

 

But yes, I did pretty much repeat SOTW alongside that.  I read a bit from SOTW to introduce a new topic, then I read from other books from the library, then they do the work from the KHE the rest of the week. We didn't do the whole AG during the logic stage, but I did pull from it occasionally.  Things that they had done 4 yrs before weren't always remembered, or I did things with them that I had skipped the first time through.  Sometimes I felt a map from SOTW was better for pointing out the discussion than the maps in Geography Coloring Book, etc.

 

In your case, I would SOTW again with the younger, with the others listening into the read aloud, but then send them on their way with their work, and you work with the little one on her narrations and mapwork and such. Any cool activities can be done by all.

[RootAnn]

Some of my kids start tagging along midway through the cycle. They usually get a repeat. Ds#1 listened in the whole cycle, but is starting it back over this year with Ds#2.

 

Dd#2 has been through the cycle twice and is starting her third round! Dd#3 is starting her second time through. Both will use higher level materials, but all three groups will be studying Ancients.

 

Only Dd#1 is off the cycle- doing a Government class and US History.

[ScoutTN]

SWB suggests repeating the history cycle. Kids in 5th and up use a different spine such Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. All can sit in and listen to SOTW, but olders can then read independently from a more challenging history spine. This is how I interpreted her WTM book :)

 

 

This is how we are doing it. Dd is suing the K12 Human Odyssey as her spine and we also have some of the Oxford University Press texts. We find the Kingfisher tedious for really reading, though we use it as a reference. 

 

Our shared time is RA and picture books and SOTW audiobook in the car. And a few projects. 

[EKS]

I would not repeat SOTW with kids who have already gone through it nor do I think it is appropriate for students in the middle grades except as a supplement.

 

My favorite spine for the second history rotation is K12's Human Odyssey series.

[KarenNC]

I didn't have to worry about including younger kids, but here's what we did:

 

K--general American history highlights (major holidays, symbols, people) and general modern cultures (DK's "A Life Like Mine," etc)

1-2---SOTW

3-4-- SOTW, but included more American history through bios, Story of the USA workbook series

5-6-- back to Ancients/Middle Ages  using k12's History Odyssey 

7-8--early modern/modern with Hakim's History of US as the main spine, HO moved to background

 

For high school, we aren't repeating. Civics in 9th, Am Hist since 1865 and intro to social science (sociology and psychology) for 10th,  probably will do a modern world history in 11th, not sure about 12th.

[MEVmom]

Thank you everyone for your ideas! I'll look into Human Odyssey for sure. And reread the logic section of WTM.

 

[Parkway Academy]

I think you can definitely repeat, with the older kids writing more detailed narrations and reading more difficult extension books the second time around.  That's what we are planning after we finish SOTW 4 this year.

[bpskowski]

My ds is going through the cycle second time now.  We are going to do early modern starting in September.  The last two years my son listened along with the girls SOTW and then went his separate independent route (Human Odyssey and History Odyssey).  His listening was a review before he got into his studies.  This September, he is going to read aloud to the girls and ask the narration questions from the AG and do the map and timeline with them.   (Of course, I'll be there to join in with the discussion.) Then separately he'll either outline the chapter section or practice cornell note taking from the section.  Plus, he'll have additional reading.  But he loves history and I hope his enthusiasm will pass along to the girls.  And I am hoping it'll focus his mind on the main points and not just the stories of history. 

[Milknhoney]

We took a break for a year to do geography and then last year I combined ancient and middle ages using DK History of the World as our spine. On its own, DK has lovely pictures but not a whole lot of meat. Ds didn't get as much out of the supplemental reading as I had hoped for. So next year, we're back to SOTW for early modern. While the writing style is a bit simplistic for a 7th grader, the depth of information is better that what I've seen in texts manageable for this age. I bought the PDF of the narration questions typed out so that he can write them out on his own this time. It won't kill him to repeat the mapping. I didn't bother with a timeline first time around so this time he's going to make timeline cards. We'll supplement with DK, Kids' Guide to US History, and Critical Thinking in US History. And I'll be matching up literature selections to match the time period.